Second Israeli arrested over attack

Israeli police have arrested a second suspect for the attempted lynching of a Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip last week, Israeli military radio says.

05 Jul 2005 21:25 GMT

Israelis opposed to the pullout have been clashing with police

The radio did not identify the suspect but said he was a 19-year-old from a settlement near Hebron in the West Bank.

Israeli police said on Monday they had arrested a right-wing extremist, 18-year-old Shimshon Sitreen, suspected of taking part in the attempted lynching.

Sitreen, who also lives in a settlement near Hebron in the West Bank, appeared in court on Monday and was remanded in custody for the attempted murder of 16-year-old Palestinian boy, Hilal Ziad al-Majaida.

Al-Majaida was left critically ill after being stoned by a mob of young Israeli ultra-nationalists last Wednesday in Mawassi enclave near the Jewish settlement bloc of Gush Katif in southern Gaza.

He was wounded during a series of clashes which erupted after a group of Israeli youths, all vehemently opposed to the re-deployment of Israeli occupation forces from Gaza and the removal of settlers from the area, took over an empty Palestinian house on the edge of the enclave.